preview

Essay Using Swot Analysis to Formulate Strategy

Better Essays

Using SWOT Analysis to Formulate Strategy

SWOT Analysis is a powerful technique for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for looking at the Opportunities and Threats you face. SWOT analysis is one of the most important steps in formulating strategy. In SWOT analysis, the best strategies accomplish an organization's mission by exploiting an organization's opportunities and strengths while neutralizing its threats and avoiding its weakness. (Griffin, 2003) By looking at yourself and your competitors using the SWOT structure, you can start to craft a strategy that helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors, so that you can compete successfully in your market. This helps you to focus on your strengths, minimize …show more content…

Strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. (McNamara, 1999) The focus of a strategic plan is usually on the entire organization, while the focus of a business plan is usually on a particular product, service or program. (McNamara, 1999) Group techniques are particularly effective in providing structure, objectivity, clarity and focus to discussions about strategy which might otherwise tend to wander or else be strongly influenced by politics and personalities (Glass, 1991). Performing a SWOT Analysis can be a time consuming and data intensive process, specifically when it comes time to understanding the competitive environment. A manger needs to be able to use their time management skills in order for the strategic plan to come together. Being strategically agile enables organizations to transform their strategy depending on the changes in their environment" (Gouillart, 1995). Strategic plans are usually developed by senior managers in consultation with their staff. Management must ensure that the plans are communicated throughout the organization to build 'ownership' for its objectives. Focus groups may be used with staff and clients to find out how the organization is performing, to gain ideas as to where it should be going, and to discover where it

Get Access